New Bedford Fire Station 9 Showdown: Will Mayor Jon Mitchell Attend City Council Meeting?

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — It remains to be seen whether Mayor Jon Mitchell will attend Tuesday night’s special meeting of the New Bedford City Council, but Council President Ryan Pereira has promised he will keep the meeting civil and true to the spirit of collaboration if he does attend.

The Fight to Save New Bedford Fire Station 9

Pereira called for the special meeting and invited the mayor to discuss Mitchell’s plan for the proposed closing of Fire Station 9 in the city’s North End. The closure was announced back in the spring as part of Mitchell’s budget presentation, citing a $32 million shortfall.

However, State Senator Mark Montigny secured a $500,000 amendment to the state budget in order to continue funding for Station 9, and recently, the city council approved two appropriation orders for $1.3 million in additional funding for its continued operation through the current fiscal year.

READ MORE: City Council Crafts Appropriation Orders to Save Fire Station 9

While only the mayor can request an appropriation and the city council then signs off on it, Councilor at Large Shane Burgo drafted these appropriation orders to make it easier for Mitchell to just sign them, with the commitment of the council that they would be approved.

Unsigned Appropriation Orders Ignite Tension

In his weekly appearance on WBSM this morning, Pereira said Mitchell sent the appropriation orders back to the council unsigned. “He essentially ignored them,” Pereira said.

That led to Pereira calling for the special meeting, with Mitchell and New Bedford Fire Chief Brian Medeiros invited to come before the council and explain the closure plan. Pereira said Medeiros wasn’t even sure of the plan.

READ MORE: New Bedford City Council Summons Mayor Mitchell to Special Meeting Regarding Future of Fire Station 9

“We’ve asked (Mitchell) and received no answer. Now it’s time to collaborate, come together, come up with a plan,” Pereira said. “What is your plan, Mayor? Where are we going to go from here? The council has some questions, the council has some requests. Come to the council, let’s have an open discussion and figure out what’s going on.”

He also said Mitchell had given him no indication of whether or not he planned to attend the meeting. When WBSM inquired with the Mayor’s Office last week, a spokesperson declined to say whether or not the mayor would attend.

“I hope he does,” Pereira said. “I think it would be very productive. This is not a small issue. Come to the meeting, and let’s have a good conversation about it.”

Healey Offers No Lifeline To Keep New Bedford's Station 9 Open

Pereira Promises Collaboration, Not Contention

“I really hope the mayor will show up because I think it will be a good collaborative effort, putting differences aside and trying to save this fire station,” he said. “We may have to make some difficult decisions in the future, but for one year, this year, we can save this fire station, and we should do it.”

Although there has been contention between Mitchell and the city council – including recent accusations by Pereira that Mitchell broke the law when making an emergency appointment to the Board of Election Commissioners – Pereira said he “will not allow any disrespect one way or the other” on Tuesday night.

“I want to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” he said. “I will defend your right to stand there without getting personally attacked.”

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Calls for Transparency and Better Management

Pereira said not only does the general public, particularly those who live in the neighborhood covered by Station 9, deserve answers, but so do the firefighters, “the ones on the job who have no idea when they’re going to get laid off,” he said.

“There’s no direction coming from the City on that. I think that’s poor management. That’s horrible, horrible human management,” he said.

Pereira pointed to City employees that were laid off due to budget cuts that he said “weren’t told about it until they opened the budget book and saw there was no money in that department.”

“Horrible, horrible, horrible. That was fumbled to no end,” he said. “And then not realizing, let’s do that a little different this time.”